An offseason visit to an orphanage in Rwanda, where Steve Blake and his wife sponsor a child, provided a heavy dose of perspective for the Lakers guard. PAUL BERSEBACH, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

His role is much bigger than his status among these Lakers, Steve Blake one of the bench players who this season absolutely must make a difference.

Yet, even if one of the backups to Steve Nash doesn't hit a shot, earn an assist or produce a steal over the next eight months, Blake already has made a difference.

Nearly 10,000 miles from Staples Center.

A real difference.

"Just seeing the poverty some of these kids live in and how you can have an impact by sponsoring these kids," Blake says, "that's what struck home for me."

The last time he was in the headlines, Blake and the Lakers were being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by Oklahoma City. He missed a potential winning 3-pointer late in Game 2.

Afterward, some people used Twitter to threaten Blake's life. They did the same to his wife, Kristen.

But this story isn't about those threats or about last season or even about basketball. Because Blake. like every NBA player, isn't just about basketball. Among all that height, folks, if you look for it, there is some depth.

If you care deeply about the Lakers winning and losing, that's perfectly fine. That makes you loyal.

If you care only slightly about more than just the scoreboard, that's even better. That makes you human.

"The trip will help me to continue to be humble and thankful for what I have," Blake says. "I'm definitely blessed to have what I have, and I want to share what I have."

Three years ago, Blake, the father of three, decided to share with another child, a girl in Rwanda. Her name is Divine. He and Kristen became the girl's sponsors.

They exchanged letters and photos. They sent Divine toys. They watched videos of her singing and dancing.

Working with a group from his church in Portland, where the Blakes live in the offseason, and Africa New Life Ministries, Steve and his wife traveled in August to meet Divine.

They weren't sure what to expect, from a country they knew nothing about or a child they had come to know so well and so little.

Blake has traveled plenty — from the Dominican Republic to Spain to Brazil to England — in the name of basketball. This trip was for a much greater cause.

"We felt," Blake says now, "called to go."

Upon arrival, they found a 10-year-old girl whose parents had died years earlier and whose grandmother was too ill to care for her, living in an orphanage with other children rescued by sponsors from the streets, from the hunger and from the AIDS.

They found a child with little more than a hope, a smile and a chance, a child too thankful for the opportunity to live life to miss everything she didn't have.

"It's hard to put into words almost," Blake says. "You think about your own kids and how much they have. And then you meet this other child that you kind of know, kind of take care of, who doesn't have much. It's one of those things that's just hard to describe.

"We knew who she was. We just had never met her. We had a connection, but it doesn't become real real until you get to meet them. So that was a touching and great experience."

Every morning, the Blakes would rise at 5 a.m. to work out, Steve doing the shooting, Kristen the rebounding.

He helped repaint an orphanage. She helped make books. They passed out basketballs and soccer balls.

The Blakes attended a genocide memorial where they learned of slaughter, mutilation and rape.

Steve worked with a local basketball team called the Peebles. Organizers put together a clinic, hoping 30 kids would show up. Five times that many did.

The Blakes took long, rickety bus rides into the country, hiked through unforgiving brush and came upon villages of mud huts.

At one point, as a show of gratitude, someone presented Blake's church group with a rabbit. The animal, they were told, was named "Gift."

"The people there were so welcoming," Blake says. "They showed us so much love and respect. It was a great experience."

Some of the Lakers coaches know about Blake's trip. Most of his teammates don't.

Some of the people in Rwanda knew of Blake and the Lakers. Many did not.

"It's not something I did for publicity or anything," Blake says. "It was just a personal experience for my wife and me. Some people have asked us to talk about it since, but it was really more for just us and our church."

Africa New Life Ministries has more on the trip at their Web site africanewlife.org.

You won't have any trouble finding the information there. Just look for the photo of the Lakers' difference maker and his latest headline. It reads: "Steve's Kids."

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